Posted by Independent Shorts Awards is proud to announce that award-winning writer, director, producer, and actor Stacey Maltin will join the Industry Panel as a guest speaker at the 8th Annual Independent Shorts Awards on September 19, 2026, at Regal LA Live in Los Angeles.
Working across independent features, short films, episodic storytelling, performance, and commercial production, Maltin brings a multidisciplinary perspective to the conversation, which will take place from 4:45 PM to 6:00 PM in Cinema 10.
About Stacey Maltin
Stacey Maltin is an award-winning filmmaker whose work is guided by the belief that humanity is nuanced and empathy is universal. Her projects frequently explore complex relationships, identity, sexuality, and the experiences that connect people beneath their differences.
Maltin directed, wrote, and starred in the feature film Triple Threat, a comedy-drama centered on three lifelong friends approaching their Broadway debut while confronting diverging ambitions and the realities of adulthood. Following an award-winning festival run, the film was released by Gravitas Ventures in 2023 and became available on Peacock.
For her directing work on Triple Threat, Maltin received the top prize at Film Threat’s Award This! ceremony, accompanied by a $10,000 post-production grant from Sugar Studios in Los Angeles toward her next film.
She also directed the miniseries Mashed, a tender, raunchy, and queer examination of female pelvic pain and sexual dysfunction. The series received multiple production grants, including support from Gabrielle Tiven’s Vagina Collective, and won top series honors at HollyShorts, Nashville Film Festival, and other festivals.
Her most recent short film, Malka, starring Tovah Feldshuh, won Best Narrative Drama Short at the Cinequest Film Festival, qualifying the film for consideration for the 2026 Academy Awards.
Maltin’s latest feature, C-Side, stars Jelani Alladin, Andy Mientus, Jessica Vosk, Lea DeLaria, Tovah Feldshuh, and Jay DeYonker, who co-wrote the film with Maltin. The project is currently in post-production.
Alongside her work as a writer and director, Maltin has produced several independent feature films and runs the commercial production company WIWU Productions.
Attendees at the 8th Annual Independent Shorts Awards will have the opportunity to hear Stacey Maltin discuss the creative and practical realities of building work across independent film, episodic storytelling, performance, and commercial production. Her experience developing personal stories from concept through production, festival exhibition, and distribution will offer a valuable perspective for filmmakers working to establish sustainable creative careers.
Representing Malka as Director
Maltin is the director of Malka, which will make its Los Angeles premiere earlier in the day as part of Program 11: Human Stories — Documentary, Drama & History, from 2:45 PM to 4:25 PM in Cinema 10.
During a present-day family seder, Malka, a Holocaust survivor, begins experiencing visions of her life in the concentration camps. As past and present collapse into one another, she must rediscover in the present the hope that once enabled her to survive.
Following the screening program, Maltin will remain in Cinema 10 to join the Industry Panel, beginning at 4:45 PM.
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